In February 2020 it was announced that Karrion Kross was signing with WWE. Kross had made his name in IMPACT Wrestling and on the independent scene, becoming a free agent after obtaining his release from IMPACT in December 2019.
On social media, Kross gauged fan interest in his next destination, asking fans where they wanted to see him next with AEW leading the charge.
Asked by Chris Van Vliet on Insight if AEW was a possibility at the time, Kross replied, "Yes. Around that time, I was trying to swerve people as to where I was going to go. At the time when I put the post out on Twitter, I already knew and I was trying my absolute best to protect that as much as I could. I said, 'Hey, where would you like to see me next?' It was an overwhelming amount of people who wanted to see me go to AEW. I had that Peter Griffin moment like 'Ahhh.'"
Kross continued, explaining his mindset when he saw fans wanted him in AEW.
"I know there are a lot of different ways to look at that, but one way I looked at it was, it kind of pissed me off. It is my own doing, I understand it's not meant to be this way. I thought to myself at the time when I saw an overwhelming amount of people wanted me to go to AEW over WWE or New Japan, 'Why are people so convinced that I would find much more success in AEW vs. WWE? Do they think that I can't become successful in WWE? I'm going to show them that I can and I will.' It was a done deal, pretty much, at that time. I understand, as time went on, they weren't saying it in a resentful way, they were saying it because they thought I could probably find the best version of myself there," he said.
Later in the interview, when asked how he thinks things would have gone in AEW, Kross replied, "I'd probably still be wrestling [laughs]. I'm sure I would have been happy and creatively fulfilled. All of my friends work for AEW. I had only a couple of friends work in WWE. I would have been in good company, not that I wasn't in NXT, the locker room is awesome there. I think I would have loved it."
Despite fans wanting him to go to AEW and Kross having his options open, he signed with WWE, joining the NXT roster.
Asked why he decided to go with WWE, Kross said, "I knew, since I was a little kid watching it on TV, that I could be there and I could do this and perform at the highest level. I knew that since I was a little kid. Little kids think they know everything, so it's hard for your parents, family, and friends to get behind statements and ideas you have as a child because they want to steer you in the right direction, they don't want to burst your bubble. As time went on, nobody in my family was doing anything like this. They live in a practical and realistic world and would go for what they knew they could essentially get, they would work hard for. This seemed like, 'these people are TV, what are you going to do, fly inside the television and be with them?' It seemed like such a foreign idea to get involved with that, but to me it wasn't. I felt something as a kid that told me that I could do it. It was the first thing I ever watched, WWF. Part of me always wanted to be there. I went to a wrestling school, initially, in order to learn how to do this at the highest level to go there. Over the years, I would meet people that would discourage me to doing that or I would feel differently about or see something and I was wondering, 'can I hang with these people? Can I do this?' You find places you're working that you really love independently. Finally, I really got committed in making the decision to take it seriously and pursue it. When I did that, it happened."
Kross was released by WWE on November 4 and will be a free agent again once his non-compete clause expires.
While speaking with Renee Paquette, Kross revealed that it was Jon Moxley who told him he could succeed in WWE. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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